Wednesday, May 1, 2013

For years, I’ve associated the month of May with Debussy’s
“The Girl with the Flaxen Hair.”

I learned this two-page piano piece in the ninth grade. Like
any musician, I remember certain lessons in the context of the piece that
taught it to me. For instance, I remember the Chopin nocturne that taught me to
play three beats against four and I remember the etude that taught me that you
don’t have to play as fast as you can—that was Debussy, too.

“The Girl with the Flaxen Hair” taught me about the depth of
beauty that lies just after the bright-eyed ambition deflates—when newness has
worn off, but before cynicism shows up. This is how May feels. In the scope of
a year, May begins the second third, spring is in motion, and things have
settled without becoming stale. The brand of beauty in Debussy’s piece
identifies that feeling May gives me.

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About this blog

Leah Harrison is a Charlotte Observer intern. She covers the arts as part of the Charlotte Arts Journalism Alliance. She hails from Campobello, S.C., and adores Baroque oratorios and southern murder ballads.